Saturday, May 3, 2014

Help yourself, by helping others.

Hola amigos!

I have to admit I was sad to go back to classes this Monday after the two wonderous weeks of spring break. Going back to classes after any amount of break honestly is pretty difficult and even though it was just a three day week, it was pretty rough. Monday went surprisingly well. I had four hours of classes then I was done at 2:00. Tuesday was pretty nice as well, we had a healthy debate about gun control in America in Spanish. That actually was pretty fun! It was good to listen to other peoples views and thoughts on the topic. Wednesday was the last day of our classes this week and it was a half day! How awesome right!? Well, it was literature and lets just say that is not my favorite class. The teacher is fun and my classmates are nice, but the content is difficult. Analyzing poems and long passages are not my favorite activities in the world so you can imagine how class went.

I made it through but it pretty much drained me making me physically and mentally tired and stressed. So after class I worked out with some friends and then did homework and planned some stuff for the weekend. Right after I got out of the shower, I got a message inviting me to watch the soccer game at with some friends so I decided to go to de-stress and have a good time.

On my way there, about fifty meters from my apartment I see an older woman struggling to walk down the street. Generally I am wary of people. Yes, even the elderly, but something about her made me stop and ask her if she was okay. She asked me if I lived far and I answered her honestly with a no. She then asked me if I would mind walking with her a little ways to her apartment building because she was so tired and didn't know if she could make it. I, surprisingly without hesitation, agreed to walk with her. I offered her my arm and we walked down the sidewalk together. She told me about her day and her six sons that she thinks would really like me, no subtlety there) and about her late husband whom had passed two years ago.

All was well and suddenly we were headed toward my apartment building. I asked her if she lived there, and it turned out that she is one of my neighbors! She lives on the floor above me. We both laughed at what a coincidence it was that we lived in the same building for basically five months and never crossed each others paths. As I opened the door her she handed me a euro. I tried to decline but she was insistent and told me how lucky she was that I came along to help her.

After I made sure she got in okay I started back out to make my way to watch the game. When I left my apartment, I was a bit cranky from the day still, 20 minutes late for the game, and determined to have a good time with my friends. As I walked to the location of the game, I realized how good I had felt after putting all my thoughts about myself behind to help a complete stranger.

Sometimes the best medicine for your bad day is to help someone else cure theirs. I even made it to the second half of the game and the team I was cheering for won! That was the best start to a long weekend ever!

The rest of the week was filled with a trip to a hidden oasis and homework on the beach (yes I actually did complete my homework on the beach). Can't get any better than that!

Disfruta el fin de semana! Enjoy the weekend!

Hast luego!

(This is me thinking about getting in the water at the oasis. I only ended up putting my feet in but that counts for something...right?)